Archives for June 2016

Colombia beats U.S. 2-0 in Copa American tournament

June 4, 2016 by NWFacts Leave a Comment

U. S Captain Michael Bradley congratulates Jozy Altidore

First half goals by Cristian Zapata and James Rodriguez gave Colombia a 2-0 lead it never relinquished and earned the Colombians a crucial victory over the USMNT in the curtain raiser in Group A of the Copa America Centenario Tournament in Santa Clara, California Friday Night.

Zapata’s right footed shot from a corner kick cross by Edwin Cardona found the bottom right corner and the Los Cafeteros had the 1-nil after just eight minutes.

The U.S. never built up any type of momentum when they had the ball and had no continuos possession that went beyond four forward passes past the half way life. The mid field play of the host was text book style and unimaginative.

The physical effort was there but the mental attributes needed to break down the stingy Colombia defense were lacking.The ability to look for secondary runners, switch the ball from one side of the field to the other, and play balls into space were far and few.

The hosts best chance in the first half came in the 36th minute when Clint Dempsey’s left footed shot from just outside the box beat Colombian keeper David Ospina but some how the ball sailed just left of the goal post for a goal kick.

The proverbial goals change games clique came to fruition for the U.S. just four minutes later when defender De Andre Yedlin was whistle for a hand ball inside the box and the Colombians were awarded a penalty kick that James Rodriguez converted for the 2-0 lead.

The U.S. offense continued its pedestrian pace for the first twenty minutes of the second half until the insertion of Darling Nagbe( Jermaine Jones) and Christian Pulisic (Bobby Wood) in the 66 minute. The infusion of young fresh legs in the middle of the field led to two Clint Dempsey chances that nearly brought the Yankees back in the match.

When the final whistle blew the U.S. dominated ball possession ( 53% to 47%), but it was the Colombians who dominated shot on goal ( 7-2) and goal scored.

James Rodríguez left the game in the 73rd minute with a shoulder injury and his status for Colombia’s June 7th against Paraguay at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena is to be determined. The U.S. will also be in action on June 7th in a must win game when it faces Costa Rica at Soldier Field in Chicago.

UW football announces TV and Times of first four games.

June 2, 2016 by NWFacts Leave a Comment

The Universty of Washington Sports Information has revealed Television times for the first four UW Home Games

Game times and television information for five Washington football games – including four of seven home games – were released today by the Pac-12 Conference and its television partners.

Times and TV for the first three weeks of the season for all conference members’ home games, plus all weekday games throughout the season, were revealed.

Washington’s first three games of the season – all at home – will all air on Pac-12 Network. The Huskies’ season opener vs. Rutgers, Sept. 3 at Husky Stadium, will kick off at 11:00 a.m. PT. The following Saturday, the Dawgs will host Idaho in a 2:00 p.m. game, and the non-conference schedule closes Sept. 17 with a 5:00 p.m. game vs. Portland State.

The UW’s first conference home game is scheduled for Friday, Sept. 30, against Stanford. That game will air on ESPN and kick off at 6:00 p.m.

Finally, the 2016 Apple Cup, scheduled for Friday, Nov. 25, at Pullman, will kick at 12:30 p.m. and air on either FOX or FS1.

All remaining TV and kickoff times will be announced during the season, generally (but not always) the Monday 12 days before each game.

Full Pac-12 Schedule

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Seattle Sounders snap losing streak with 2-0 win over D.C. United

June 2, 2016 by NWFacts Leave a Comment

Two second half goals by Jordan Morris and Joevin Jones led the the Sounders FC (5-7-1. 16 points) to a much needed 2-0 win over D.C. United (4-6-4, 16 points) Wednesday at evening at RFK Stadium. The win was not the prettiest example of the beautiful game on display but it did not matter for team that was beginning to take longer than normal looks at each other and themselves each time they passed the mirror.

A three game losing streak to the top two clubs in your Conference (FC Dallas 2-0 May 14th, Colorado 1-0 May 21st ) and a 1-0 loss to eight place Eastern Conference club New England May 28th in controversial fashion will have you begin that soul searching journey that will leave you with nothing but self doubt that will lead to paranoia and self destruction.

Fortunately for the Sounders, their determination, grit and hard work paid off as they won their first road game of the season. With both sides out to bag the three points, the Sounders dominated ball possession during the early part of the game as they always do, only to see D.C. United adjust to the Rave Green’s strategy of clogging the middle of the pitch with a high press.

“I thought they started very brightly and had good energy,” United head coach Ben Olsen said of his side. “We had trouble figuring out the center of the park, they put a lot of numbers in there and it took us a while to figure that out. When we did, the rest of the first half was very good – our energy was good, we were picking up second [chances] and then it was just a matter of dealing with the final third stuff. And the few very good chances we had, we failed to finish off.”

The inability to finish looked to be the Sounders unwanted mantra once again, until rookie Jordan Morris made good in the 79th when he give the visitors a 1-0 lead. A Morris and 74th minute sub Joevin Jones wall pass combination resulted in the Trinidad and Tobago international getting a clean left footed shot that DC United goalkeeper Bill Hamid parried away but not out of the goal area. Morris wasted no time in scoring his fifth goal of the season and giving the visitors the 1-nil leader.

The game was done and dusted four minute later when midfielder Osvaldo Alonso did his best American football impression of a free safety when he picked off a D.C. United pass and fed a through ball into space that Jones ran onto and deftly slid past the sprawling Hamid for the 2-0 lead with seven minutes to go.

” There’s no better feeling than working together, working hard and coming away with success, ” Sounders head coach Sigi Schmid said after the game

The Sounders will now heads into a two-week break from MLS play for the 2016 Copa America Centenario, the Sounders will returns to action on Wednesday, June 15 with its first Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup match of the season. Seattle resumes MLS regular season play on Sunday, June 19 with a nationally televised road match against the New York Red Bulls at Red Bull Arena (4:30 p.m. PT / FS1, KIRO Radio 97.3 FM, El Rey 1360 AM).

Sounders losing streak continues with 2-1 loss at New England

June 2, 2016 by NWFacts Leave a Comment

A dream start for the visiting Seattle Sounders FC (4-7-1, 13 points) went from elation, to absurd , and finally to heartbreak in their 2-1 loss to the New England Revolution ( 3-4-7, 16 points) Saturday evening at Gillette Stadium in front of 21,456 fans. In looking for their first road win of the season, the Sounders looked to have a spot on strategy when Aaron Kovar gave the visitors a 1-nil lead after just seven minutes of play.

The spot on strategy of get an early goal, take the crowd out of the game, turned to the absurd in the 24th minute when referee Fotis Bazakos awarded New England a penalty kick when Seattle defender Zach Scott tried to clear a ball that inadvertently bounced into midfielder Erik Friberg’s midsection

The Rev’s Lee Nguyen converted the spot kick and the sides where level after 24th minutes of play. It was the sixth penalty conceded by the Sounders this season with four of them being converted. Seattle has not been awarded a penalty this season.

Injury was added to insult for the Sounders in the 36th minute when Captain Brad Evans left the game with concussion like symptoms after being hit with the ball by New England forward Kei Kamara and was replaced by rookie defender Tony Alfaro .

After playing to a stale mate for the majority of the second half, the Sounders hopes of leaving the New England harbor with a point turned into heartbreak when substitute Femi Hollinger-Janzen turned lemons into lemonade when he slipped attempting to trap the ball, then quickly uprighted himself and blasted a right footed shot past the outstretched arms of Seattle goalkeeper Stefan Frei for the game winner.

” Once we scored it looked like we took our foot off the gas a little bit, second half we had some chances as well we did not react quickly on quicker than they did, ” Sounders head coach Sigi Schmid said after the game

Sounders FC will remain on the East Coast following the Saturday night loss, to prepare for their midweek clash at D.C. United on Wednesday June 1st. Kickoff against the Black-and-Red from RFK Stadium is slated for 5:00 p.m.